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Monday, June 22, 2015

More tales from the best insert set of the last 5 years

It's been quite awhile since a Topps insert set interested me enough to collect it. This shouldn't be the case because I could think of about 15 fascinating insert sets in the next 15 minutes. It probably has to do with licensing or getting enough Babe Ruth cards in the set.

One insert set that did interest me quite a bit was the Tales Of The Game set from 2010 Topps. It featured terrific subject matter spanning the entire history of the game and only a few ulterior motives (Mantle card, littered with Yankees and Red Sox).

I completed the full 25-card set, but just in case you weren't around then or you have sort of aversion to clicking links, I've gone through the trouble to show them here again for you now:

It's not a perfect set, but because of the sheer variety of famous moments, I'm willing to overlook its drawbacks, and I still love going through these cards in a binder.

Topps added a "More Tales of The Game" insert set with its Update set that year and when I completed the first "Tales" version I said I'd try to complete the "More Tales" set, too. That was more than four years ago, and I still haven't completed it.

In fact, I'm amazed that anyone was still aware that I wanted these cards, but just a few days ago, I found an envelope from Weston of Fantastic Catch with some "More Tales" cards.

The "Tying in Baseball" card is a dupe (Hey, it's Miller Time!), but the other three I needed.

This is what the set looks like in pages with empty spaces for the cards I still need:

These are easy to come by, I should just pick them up online and be done with them.

The "More Tales Of The Game" set isn't as fun or personable as the first Tales. Too many overhead views of stadiums and a general feeling that they were running out of topics.

But it's still on the right track and more in line with what I'd like to see from an insert set.

Weston added a couple of needed Dodgers:

That's your Pacific Coast League Player of the Week and the man that ESPN announcers continue to prattle on about "not playing the game the right way" even as he's batting .313 and went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs in a 10-2 Dodgers win while they were prattling. I'll let you guess which guy is which.

Perhaps Yasiel Puig could be a topic of a future Tales Of the Game insert set. I already have a title: "Blowhards and the Wild Horse".

I like the "Tales Of The Game" cards. Most of the choices & captions are great. I like how they added "more" to the update ones. Three Mets in the set. I like, but there could be more. I see "Tales Of The Mets" in my blogs future.I am familiar with all the card topics but one. What's the significance of the card captioned "Triple Billing"?

Saw the post about a week back where you referenced you were trying to complete the set along with a whole bunch of other random sets. Glad you at least needed the cards. I'll keep looking around for more cards you need.